Leiston is a unique town
among the wide
variety of villages and settlements in Suffolk. In early history,
Leiston was known only for its proximity to the river Mismer and
important ports at Syzewell and Minsmere Havens (and therefore
lucrative wrecking and smuggling activity) and the presence of nearby
Leiston Abbey which would have dominated the local economy until the
dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. By fluke of history,
the business of one bladesmith, Richard Garrett (born 12.10.1757), grew
steadily from 1778 to metamorphose into an important Victorian
engineering factory. Famous for its threshing machines, traction
engines and many other products, Garretts engineering works transformed
Leiston from a village of a few hundred inhabitants into an industrial
town. See below for The Long Shop.Corn mill Many other businesses were drawn into Leiston to
service the
growing
population including that of corn miller. In 1865, we find the first
mention of a smock mill run by James Bedwell operating on a ridge
carrying the railway line from the station over Valley Road and towards
Thorpe Halt and Aldeburgh. Henry James Lambert is first mentioned as
operating the windmill in 1892, alongside a steam driven mill. The
slope from Valley Road up to the site is still known as Lambert's Lane
and the cottage on the corner carries the familar cartouche of
cream-white paint with the decorative serif lettering (note the
inward-sloping 'H'): 'MILL HOUSE'.

But surely there must
have
been something,
perhaps an arrow, above the name? The mill was dismantled in 1917 when
the use of wind power to grind corn became uneconomical, however some
of the original buildings still exist at the top of Lamberts
Lane. Demolition was carried out by John 'Tiny' Brown who also
demolished the mill at Snape, the base of which was later used as a
house by the Suffolk composer Benjamin Britten. The mill stones from
Snape were used in the refurbishment of Saxtead mill, just outside
Framlingham.

[UPDATE: 16.6.2014: "I have just
chanced upon your photo of the old sign in Leiston (usually now called
a "ghost sign") which refers to Mill House. My
old school teacher, a Miss Reilly, lived there in the 60s (and probably
had for years before that) when I was at junior school until her death
(I think) in the 80s.You ask if there was an arrow above the words "MILL
HOUSE". The sign actually said "To Mill House" and above that there was
a hand pointing to the left. It looked a lot like the "Go to
Jail" hand pointing on the Monopoly board. Shame that has disappeared
but pleased to see the sign itself has at least survived in part.Hope this is of interest to you and your community.
Thanks for the photos! Best regards, Melanie Emmerson." Thanks to Melanie for the additional
information.]

Church of St Margaret of Antioch

This is a gravestone
close
to the main
door of Leiston church in Waterloo Avenue. An earlier photograph of the
same stone from the 1970s formed the basis of a recently rediscovered oil painting by
Borin Van Loon. We think it must have been the name of
the grave's occupant which caught the eye in the early 1970s:

'Sacredto the memory ofLOT BETTSWHO DEPARTED THIS LIFEThird February
1873Aged 74 yearsAlso of ANNRELICT OF LOT BETTS
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
...
AGED 86 YEARS'

Hopefully Ann was not known in her lifetime as "Lot's
wife. This 2005 view
is replete with molehill, dead leaves and a wealth of algae and moss to
obscure the ancient carved script. The nearby church is one of the most
distinctive, not to say eccentric, ecclesiastical buildings in a county
groaning with hundreds of historic churches and monastic ruins.

Leiston Church is
dedicated, along with
nineteen others in the county, to St Margaret of Antioch. She is said
to have been the Christian daughter of a pagan priest, Aesidius of
Antioch, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She was
denounced as a Christian by the prefect Olbrius after she rejected his
suit and was subjected to a number of hideous ordeals including being
swallowed by Satan in the form of a dragon. According to legend, the
dragon's belly burst open and she emerged unharmed. She killed the
dragon (surprisingly still alive!) with a cross-tipped spear
symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. She is the patron saint of
women in childbirth and her emblem is a dragon. The church itself was
probably built on the site of an earlier Saxon church, one of three
known to have been in the area. A major rebuild, apart from the 14th
century tower, in 1854 by maverick Gothic Revival architect Edward
Buckton Lamb reshaped the interior of the church as a large auditorium
for the evangelical preachings of the current incumbent John Blathwayt.
Imaginitive use of Kentish rag stone, flint and French Caen stone for
detailing gives the exterior a period appearance, but the interior is a
riot of timber roofing beams and carving with some attractive painted
surfaces in the chancel.Leiston WorksNo mention of Leiston's history is worth it's name if
Garrett's is not
included. Once the dominant employer in the area, Garrett's engineering
works once occupied two large sites and was to Leiston what Ransome's
was to Ipswich: big, wealthy, stinky, filthy and hard for the workers.
Garretts was a family business from 1778 to 1932, after which the
company passed into the hands of Beyer Peacock. The works finally
closed in 1981. However, the historic core was preserved and opened as
a museum in 1984.

2013
images
Now residential, the Works Hall still stands and is (just about) named
in screw-on lettering in the central triangle:

'1862WORKS HALL'

In the upper stone shield with
lion rampant is a scroll bearing the words:

'A DEO OMNIA'

which is Latin for 'From God in
all things'.

The Engineers Arms
A glance across the road in summer 2013 showed that the once excellent
The Engineers Arms was no longer open for business:
The 'frosting' on the glazed doors are almost certainly vinyls reading:

'THEENGINEERSARMSAdnams Fine Ales'

with the Adnams of Southwold
emblem above. The door on the right bears the brass plate: 'LOUNGE
BAR'.
A sad sight at a period when so many public houses are closing
throughout the country.
Two of the windows on this street have leaded light lettering:

'PUBLIC BAR'

The Long Shop Museum
The Long Shop is the name given to the oldest part of Garrett's
historic engineering site with its collection of buildings full of
exhibits and information. The door below at one end of the actual Long
Shop building bears a cast iron lintel with the (slightly wonky) date:
'1852'. The Long Shop, built in 1852-53, is a
very
early example of a building designed for assembly-line production.
Given the importance of water in foundry-work, the works has the
deepest well in Suffolk along with a large, restored, Grade II-listed
water tower.

Outside behind chairs and tables on a terrace is a large cast beam
bearing the notice:

'BRIDGE BEAMRECOVERED FROM EASTBRIDGE, NEAR LEISTONPRESENTED BY A.J. MEW (SAXMUNDHAM)METAL MERCHANTS17th SEPTEMBER 1987'

The beam itself in restored
condition has three cartouches carrying the legend:

'R. GARRETT & SON1848LEISTON WORKS'

The museum has several of Garrett's steam engines, including Consuelo Allen, a road roller
rescued from Spain, a very rare Suffolk Punch steam tractor and the
rescued and restored Sirapite,
the works' shunting engine. As well as steam engines, the works was
famous for agricultural implements, and many are on display, including
a threshing machine. There's also a living wagon, one of the wonderful
caravans used as accommodation by the drivers of the engines when on
the road. Much recommended.
Above: another exhibit built into the perimeter wall is a carved stone
cartouche: 'POST OFFICE', presumably rescued form an earlier post
office building in Leiston during its demolition.

Council Offices and Library2015 imagesSet back from Main Street are the public library and
Leiston Town Council offices. The civic nature of the building is
denoted by the typical castiron 'PUBLIC CONVENIENCES' sign, replete
with arrow. This probably dates from the early 20th century and it
would be nice to think that it was cast in the Garrett's foundry across
the road.
The building bears two war memorials. The first is a carved stone
plaque bearing the inscription:

'1914
19181939 – 1945IN MEMORY OF THOSEWHO LOST THEIR LIVESIN THE TWO WORLD WARSERECTED BY THE LEISTON BRANCHOF THE BRITISH LEGION'

Larger memorials with lists of
the names of the dead are sited in the churchyard of St Margaret of
Antioch (with a crucifix figure in bronze by Dorothy Anne Aldrich Rope
– neice of the noted Suffolk sculptor Ellen Mary Rope –
shown below) and in Leiston cemetery.

Above right: the metal plaque on the council offices commemorating:

'UNITED
STATES AIR FORCEEIGHTH FIGHTER COMMAND357TH FIGHTER COMMANDDEDICATED TO THE BRAVE MEN WHO MADETHE SUPREME SACRIFICE INTHE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM1944–1945'

followed by a long list of names and 'ERECTED MAY
1980'. Many will remember the presence of USAF staff in this area of
Suffolk, concentrated around the air bases at Bentwaters, near
Rendlesham and Woodbridge, near Sutton'. The American accents and
overhead jet aircraft were commonplace after the Second World War,
through the years of the Cold War and until the troops, their families
and belongings were shipped back to the USA in huge transporter
aircraft in 1992.

Ashford Jeweller,
58 High Street2016 imagesIn the summer of 2016 the small shop near
the corner of the Cross Street, Sixewell Road, High Street crossroads
had its name board removed to reveal a previous occupant:

'R.S. Ashford.
Jewellery.'

Paradise
Although listed as 'Paradise Place' on some maps, the street nameplate
– an attractive, cast iron, cartouche design (perhaps made in Leiston
Works?) – is unequivocal. Paradise is defined as 'a place of timeless
harmony', but quite why it is applied to street names is unclear. There
is a Paradise Street, home of Birmingham Town Hall, in Birmingham. The
same name can be found in Richmond, Southwark (both London), Bristol,
Liverpool, Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield. Paradise Lane can be found
in Clitheroe; Paradise Parade is in Kings Lynn and there are doubtless
further examples. Perhaps it is the age-old reason that Paradise is a
pleasant word for a thoroughfare.

Eastward Ho
In the above photograph Sizewell Road runs off at the left towards the
sea with Eastward Ho! (we like to see it written with an exclamation
mark) marked by a modern street nameplate at pavement level and a much
older cast nameplate high on the wall – rendered and painted around and
bearing the patina of age. Its equivalent road is 'WESTWARD HO' which
doesn't, sadly, have such a period sign. Westward Ho is notable for two
reasons. Firstly, it runs away from the level crossing and Leiston
Station (seen on our Saxmundham to Aldeburgh branch line
page), parallel with the railway for a while. Secondly, it is the road
serving Summerhill, A.S. Neil's pioneering school. In Leiston, he
created a community in which children could be free from adult
authority. Controversial at times, but recognised as an important
contribution to educational thinking: 'Founded in 1921 and still ahead
of its time'.The
only street nameplate for Westward Ho

Aldringham ChapelLeiston is closely linked with the village of Aldringham; whence
workers at the Garrett Engineering Works walked across the fields to
and from work.2017
images
This is a good place to include the former Providence Chapel on
Aldringham Common. The
Thorpeness & Aldringham Heritage Group tells us that this is
the work of local architect, artist and poet, Cecil Howard Lay FRIBA
(1885-1956):-
'Another one of Lay's architectural surprises is the seven-bay, brick,
nominally Neo-Georgian, former Providence Baptist Chapel (now a private
house) on the common to the north of the B1353. It has three tall
round-arched windows to either side of a three-bay porch and the seven
bays are separated by giant pilasters whose capitals and the frieze
between them is chequers of brick and stone. I will not forget my
amazement at encountering this classical, essentially urban edifice
emerging from the heathland as I walked over the common towards The
Follies.

'PROVIDENCE BAPTIST CHAPELALDRINGHAMJULY 15TH, 1812
APRIL 5TH, 1915'

The existing chapel, which was erected in 1914-15, replaced a
much plainer building of 1812. The old chapel was far more
restrained and traditional in design, with two front entrances leading
into small vestibules giving access into the chapel and galleries by
separate doors. The sittings were within high box pews and across the
front of the chapel on either side of the pulpit were rows of two-seat
pews; the one nearest to the pulpit being reserved for the appointed
Deacon who announced the hymns. The galleries were on both sides
and at the rear, one side being reserved for the Sunday School
scholars. The seating capacity was about 800, which was well
occupied during the 19th century but was totally inadequate for special
occasions such as the Sunday School Anniversaries.

The old chapel was illuminated by a chandelier of oil lamps hanging
from the centre and smaller oil lamps hung on the walls. Outside
the chapel was an enclosed burial ground, a thatched-roofed stable on
the east side and a well on the west side. Despite the chapel's
isolated position, it was within view of Stone House, a gentleman's
residence to the rear (north) who owned the land bordering the
chapel. He was so annoyed at the prospect of a Conventicle barely
visible from his drawing room that he planted a screen of fir trees to
hide the chapel from view. Additions to the old chapel were made over
the years and it was reconstructed in 1856, but by 1914 it was
considered unsafe and demolished. Lay's chapel was erected on the same
site, but with the pulpit on the east side instead of the north side as
in the old chapel. Fundraising over the previous eleven years resulted
in a tender of £1,228 5s 6d from Mr. G A Smyth, a Leiston builder,
being accepted in March 1914. A large congregation of Strict Baptists
assembled on April 5th 1915 for the opening of the new chapel, which
was named 'Providence' as an outer token of the Providential care and
guidance that had led the worshippers to that day.'